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2. 'In Flanders Fields' was originally thrown away
When Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian medical officer, conducted the funeral of a friend, he looked around and saw the death and suffering and, in a cemetery nearby, red poppies amongst the crosses. He took his notebook and wrote the words of 'In Flanders Fields' and, unhappy with it, tossed it away. A fellow officer picked up the poem and sent it to English newspapers. While some rejected it, Punch published it on 8 December 1915.
3. The idea of poppies as a symbol for remembrance was conceived by Moina Michael
Professor and humanitarian Moina Michael was so touched by McCrae's 'In Flanders Fields' that she wrote a poetry response, 'We Shall Keep the Faith'. She also vowed to wear a red poppy to symbolically remember those who served in the war in response to the first two lines of McCrae's poem - 'In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses row on row.'
Photo / Natalie Slade
4. A French woman conceived the idea of Poppy Day
Moina Michael's initiative became a reality at an event in 1920 when The American Legion made the red poppy an official symbol of remembrance. Madame Anna E. Guerin attended the event and conceived the idea that selling fake red poppies could help raise money for veterans, their families and those children orphaned and in poverty in northern France due to the war.
5. New Zealand placed its first order for poppies in 1921
Colonel Alfred S. Moffett took Guerin's idea to the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association who, in September of 1921, placed an order for over 350,000 poppies with Madame Guerin.
6. Poppy Day should have been on Armistice Day
Poppy Day was originally intended to be celebrated on Armistice Day (11 November) 1921, along with other Commonwealth nations. Unfortunately, the ship that was carrying the poppies arrived too late, so the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association decided to wait until the day before ANZAC day the following year. Since then, Poppy Day has been intrinsically bound with ANZAC Day in New Zealand.
Photo / Glenn Taylor
7. New Zealand didn't make its own poppies until 1931
The first poppies made in New Zealand were by disabled returned soldiers in Auckland and Christchurch.
8. By 1945 one in two New Zealanders wore a poppy on Poppy Day
As World War II quickly followed the first, public interest in Poppy Day swelled as lives were lost, people were injured and families destroyed. In 1945, 750,000 poppies were distributed - making it one poppy for every two New Zealanders. Poppy Day began helping another generation of war victims.
9. The present poppy design is 36-years old
The New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association changed to its present flat, Earl Haig design in 1978.
10. Production of poppies sold in New Zealand moved offshore in 2010
The Returned Services Association (formerly the Returned Soldiers' Association) announced that poppy production would be moved to Australia in 2010. It was a decision surrounded in controversy as Christchurch-based Kilmarnock Enterprises, who had been making the poppies for around 30 years employed 72 people - many who had mental or physical disabilities. There was further controversy when Chinese-made poppies made their first appearance in 2012.
- nzherald.co.nz
